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Ramses O'Flaherty
Ramses O'Flaherty, '''also known as '''Jack Takano, was a mayoral candidate for Hyperion City who wished to take over from the previous mayor, Pilot Pereyra due to their corruption. He inspired hope in the people of Hyperion and even won the support of the cynical Juno Steel. He won the election over former mayor Pilot Pereyra by a landslide. Early Life Little is known about Ramses' early life. At some point in Ramses' past, he went by the name Jack Takano and worked at Northstar Entertainment. He was hired off of the streets without a resume or a portfolio and what Northstar founder Miranda Fairbanks suspected to be a fake name in itself. He worked with fellow writer Sarah Steel to create the Turbo Saves The Day series. Although the series was largely successful, it was criticized for having little depth and for its simplistic morals. Outside of work, Jack frequently visited Sarah and her family, and was on good terms with both Juno and Benzaiten. After suffering financially for years, Northstar decided that budget cuts had to be made--therefore, they could only keep one writer. The company pitted Sarah and Jack against each other, forcing them to each come up with their own pitch and choosing who would remain. Sarah expressed her discomfort over this, but Jack tried to reassure her that everything would work out. Fearing that Sarah's volatile behavior would result in her jeopardizing her career, Jack decided to break into her apartment and steal her pitch idea. He manipulated four-year-old Juno Steel into telling Sarah that "Turbo did it", then broke into her office to make copies of her pitch. He assured himself that this would be the better outcome, that only he could ensure a bright future for Sarah Steel and her children. The following day at the pitch meeting, Sarah realized that Jack had stolen her pitch and had a breakdown. This resulted in her being fired and Jack heading the new Andromeda series. In addition to the animated series, Jack would later direct the first two successful Andromeda films, Chainmail Warrior Andromeda ''and ''Andromeda and the Sea of Sinners, based on Sarah Steel's own ideas. Throughout the years, Jack would send money to Sarah in an attempt to help her, but his charity was scorned, as Sarah believed that he had essentially stolen her life. Takano became the face of Northstar Entertainment, and was largely attributed to the studio's surge in success. Many people eagerly awaited the release of the next Andromeda film, though Takano had much larger plans than just a film. In a speech at town hall, Takano revealed his next project—"The City of the Future", or the project that would eventually become Polaris Park. However, many found Takano's direction for the company controversial. Some were unsure of his capability to remain in movie production following his turn towards municipal planning. Former Head of Animation at Northstar Jocelyn Chen reported asking to see the full plan of Polaris, but upon seeing the plans, she noted that there were no Northstar properties anywhere. In order to make money, Takano had to make compromises. The plans were more than halved in size, renamed the project 'Polaris' and the tagline 'Welcome to our home.' After a few investors dropped out, Northstar made it smaller again, changing the name to 'Polaris Park,' with the tagline 'The place we all call home.' Finally, when the focus groups showed nobody understood what a 'place we all call home' even meant, it became 'The place that fun calls home.' After the third Andromeda movie was finally released, the film was widely panned, with critics remarking that the film featured a shallow depiction of the character that did not mirror her previous depictions. Following the film's failure, Northstar established an Anti-Informations Department just to erase every copy they could find. Although many critics thought that the film was the result of a rushed production schedule, this perception couldn't have been further from the truth. In fact, as cited by Jocelyn Chen, Takano worked harder on the Andromeda 3 project than she'd seen before. Takano kept revising the storyboards and rewriting while speaking about the "responsibility" of doing good, frustrating his fellow coworkers. A recording of Takano was leaked from Northstar a few months after the release of ''Andromeda 3, ''which showed the man shouting about how Jocelyn couldn't see the "big picture" behind it all. Later, Takano publicly addressed the leak, apologizing to Jocelyn and about the responsibility of showing Andromeda as a hero for all of Mars. The year between Andromeda 3's release and the opening of Polaris Park marked a shift in how Northstar was run. Takano removed himself from the film production process completely, hiring previously-terminated Northstar writer Kenni Okombe and rock-star-slash-poet Rajavi to co-write Andromeda and the Dragon's Peak based on some of Takano’s early sketches. In the meantime, Jack Takano redoubled his efforts on Polaris Park. And though he worked on the project for days or weeks on end, his coworkers saw him less than ever. As work on Polaris Park continued and the opening date drew closer and closer, Takano continued to have complaints towards the compromises made in the other departments. It was clear that Polaris Park was not doing what it was supposed to — though Takano was never clear about what its actual purpose was. Following the opening of Polaris Park, Takano disappeared, though many still widely regard him to be a hero. History Ramses first encountered Juno after the detective saved Maia King from a bomb sent to her apartment inside a replica of her cat. Impressed by his determination to do good, Ramses hired Juno to protect him during his mayoral campaign as he believed there was a conspiracy to prevent him from taking the election and suspected Mayor Pereyra of foul play. With Juno now working under him, Ramses then provided him with a THEIA Spectrum cybernetic eye to make up for the one he'd lost and dramatically improve his already remarkable sharpshooting skills. In Juno Steel and the Promised Land (Part 3), it is revealed that not only was Ramses responsible for the majority of crimes Juno had mistakenly believed were caused by Pereya, he had hired a mercenary who Juno nicknamed The Piranha to hinder Pereya, sending them in a fruitless chase after the utopic city named "The Free Dome" to win the election with them out of the way. Personality As Takano, he was a soft spoken and humble man who was very willing to help out at Northstar in any way needed. He acted as an "interpreter" for his gifted-yet-explosive co-writer, Sarah Steel, and ended up stealing her idea for the Andromeda series and claiming it was his own, resulting in her being fired. After being thrust into the public eye following the release of Andromeda, he became more withdrawn and tired , often spending days on end working in his office. As Ramses, he was an inspiring idealist who advocated for the "little guy" and wanted to put an end to government corruption. Despite that, he himself had ulterior motivations, and tricked Juno into working to "protect" him when in reality he was trying to bring down his competition. After his death, more is revealed about him through his notes. He was steadfast and could never have been swayed from his beliefs. He could always find a way to justify what he did. Furthermore, he planned everything out as much as possible and tried to plan for every eventuality. Relationships Sarah Steel Ramses was a co-worker with Sarah during her time at Northstar, where he still was under the alias 'Jack Takano'. While Sarah and Jack were competing against each other for a spot in Northstar, Jack repeatedly asked her to take breaks and remind her to take care of herself. He often warns her that her paranoid behavior over her new Northstar project proposal may be due to her stress and lack of rest. He eventually decides by himself that Sarah is not equipped to handle the responsibility of the Andromeda project, and takes her work, leaving her with duplicates of all the files as not to arise suspicion. Juno Steel Jack Takano is close with the Steel family, sometimes taking care of Juno and Benzaiten when Sarah becomes overly stressed or needs a break. He is familiar enough with Juno to call him 'Super Steel'. Jack even has a small phrase shared by Juno and Benzaiten, 'It's a fact, you can count on Jack.' As Ramses O'Flaherty, Jack offers Juno a new job opportunity after researching and watching him solve the Maia King caseJuno Steel and the Kitty Cat Caper (Part 1). Juno swears he knows Ramses, his voice and his watch, despite Ramses' denial. He suggests that Juno work for him and help him win the mayoral election in exchange for the THEIA spectrum, a cyberoptic eye to assist Juno in his work and life. Episode Appearances Trivia * According to Juno Steel and the Lesson Learned (Part 1), Ramses didn't exist 30 years ago. The man known as Ramses O'Flaherty suddenly changed his spending records completely 30 years before the episodes. According to Juno, he even changed the brand of deodorant and breakfast cereal he bought, leading the detective to believe that "Ramses" is not who he seems to be.Juno Steel and the Lesson Learned (Part 1) ** It was later revealed that Ramses used to be Jack Takano, a writer for Northstar Entertainment. Jack worked with Sarah Steel to create Turbo, the Man of the Future, and stole her pitch idea of Andromeda, Chainmail Warrior.Juno Steel and the Monster's Reflection (Part 3) * Matthew Zahnzinger, the voice actor for Ramses, also voices Turbo. This ties Jack Takano to Ramses O'Flaherty and, subsequently, Juno's past, before the connection was fully revealed.Category:Characters References Category:Juno Steel Category:Juno Steel characters